Fire, not only is it extremely destructive but it is deadly. Deadly to the point where it was capable of killing nearly three hundred people in the city of Chicago. The great city of Chicago that consisted of several different districts that were destroyed by one the most horrific fires in the nation. A148 years later the exact cause remains a puzzling mystery. A city left to be rebuilt after more than 2,000 acres were gone. It may have destroyed the city of Chicago but it did not destroy the cities spirit, as the citizens were determined to rebuild.
On October 8, 1871, late in the evening, a fire broke out in Chicago, Illinois. The fire started in the barn of Mr. & Mrs. O’Leary’s but quickly spread throughout 17,500 buildings and infrastructures. The fire left 100,000, one-third of the city population, homeless, and an estimated 300 dead as mentioned and yet not all of the bodies were recovered. The fire spread from wooden building to wooden buildings, as most buildings in this time period were built mainly of wood. Also, sidewalks and roadways were wooden. Wood is a combustible material. Therefore, it made it hard for the 185 firefighters to contain the fire in the city. Also, the windy conditions and terrible drought season did not make matters better but extremely worse. The fire not only spread from buildings but crossed the river and proceeded through already burned areas. Nearly 24 hours later the fire started to burn itself out and in the evening the rain extinguished the final embers.
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Almost two centuries later and still the puzzle pieces do not fit to explain how this horrific fire started. The fire produced many theories but there are mainly four theories. The first theory puts the blame on Mrs. O’Leary’s cow for accidentally hitting a lantern onto its side and lighting the barn on fire. The next theory blames a group of men in the barn that were gambling and may have also hit a lantern over that started a fire in the barn. Another theory proposed that because there were fires in the Midwest that day that they were connected. The last theory suggested a meteor may have struck the city of Chicago and set the fire. Although there are many probable theories for what caused it, they have been mainly narrowed down to the fire originating in the O’Leary’s barn. Yet it may have not been completely the O’Leary’s fault. Because of the dry season, with very little rain as stated in the article, ‘The Great Chicago Fire’, “Chicago received only 1 inch (25 mm) of rain from July 4 to October 9” (Wikipedia), a fire could have easily started in the dry straw or hay in the barn. As stated above, much of the city’s structures were built of wood as well as the city’s sidewalks and some streets. With the drought lasting three months, all of the wood was dried out. It didn’t take much for the fire to possibly start and then to spread. The weather also played a significant role in the spreading of the fire with the strong winds. Chicago is known as the Windy City. On the day the fire started, the winds were reportedly blowing approximately 30 miles per hour. This fueled the fire into an inferno. The flames were described as ‘fire devils’ reaching extreme heights in the air. The embers were carried great distances by the winds. The fire quickly spread from dry wood buildings. Where the fire didn’t jump between buildings, it followed the dry wood sidewalks and streets. The city’s fire department was quick to respond to the fire. But it was reported that the initial group of firefighters were sent to the wrong address. It was also reported that the firefighters were already exhausted from fighting numerous fires throughout the city the previous week. Yet another factor adding to this catastrophe was the fact that the fire destroyed the city’s waterworks building. This knocked out the city’s water mains. The firefighters were left without their main source of water to fight the fires. The fire was left to spread and the firefighters were left helpless. As many theories that were produced of how the fire was caused, there are as many factors as to what caused the fire to continue spreading.
The now damaged and destroyed city was left to rebuild. The 100,000 citizens were left homeless with nothing but began receiving donations from around the country. From clothing to food and other basic needs, the citizens received donations from other cities, big corporations and people of the nation. They also received donations from London, England and Greenock, Scotland. In the article, ‘The Chicago Fire of 1871 and the ‘Great Rebuilding’’, it states, “Most railroad tracks were not damaged” (National Geographic). This allowed for donations to be brought into Chicago via railroad. This helped out a lot of the people of Chicago as they started not only rebuilding their city but their lives. They also received comments from around the country that they were developing too quickly as a city. It was suggested that the Great Chicago Fire should be a lesson to return to the religious more tradition lifestyle and stop industrialization. But the lesson the people of Chicago truly learned was to improve their fire prevention and safety and how their infrastructures are built. As for the O’Leary’s, the received tons of backlash from the people of Chicago for being irresponsible with the lanterns that caused the fire. According to the article, ‘What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?’, Mrs. O’Leary was referred to as “‘Shiftless and worthless’ and a ‘drunken old hag with dirty hands’” (Smithsonian). But as of today, Mrs. O’Leary and her cow are no longer to blame because, in 1997, the city council of Chicago exonerated them from the blame of the Great Chicago Fire. The property that was once the O’Leary’s barn is now the home of the Chicago Fire Department’s training academy.
It is evident that the Great Chicago Fire was catastrophic event in the history of the United States. Although the exact cause has not been determined after all these years that no longer matters. What matters is the lessons taken away and how the aftermath forever changed the city of Chicago. Chicago built his city twice as strong and most of those buildings are still standing today. As a community they came together and industrialized even with a major setback. Chicago is one of the biggest cities in the United States today. I think it was very interesting to learn about one of the biggest fires in United States history that no one knows how it started but it created a great amount of destruction. It taught people what a fire is capable of doing and it spread fire safety, prevention and awareness for everyone in the world.
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